Our favorite gear, rewarded: DPReview Awards 2018

DPReview Awards 2018

This year was a busy one for DPReview and the camera industry as a whole. 2018 saw the launch of two new full frame mirrorless systems from Canon and Nikon, a brace of excellent lenses, and the development announcement of even more goodies due to be released in early 2019.

With so many great products to choose from, there's never been a better time to be a photo enthusiast, but the amount of gear out there can be overwhelming. Every year in December we get together as a team to recognize the standout products of the past 12 months in our annual DPReview Awards. Click through the slides above to find out which products made our list of the best gear of 2018!

DSLRs still outsell Mirrorless by about 2:1 and most mirrorless manufacturers have been losing money, while C+N have been making good money from DSLRS, so it's not surprising they came slowly to the market. Hopefully the next two years will be interesting and all the current players will continue...

In 2017 DSLR sales decreased by 10% while mirrorless sales went UP by 40%. With Canon and Nikon having serious camera systems in the mirrorless space those numbers will skew even more in mirrorless favor.

@Dr_Jon - "DSLRs still outsell Mirrorless by about 2:1 and most mirrorless manufacturers have been losing money,"

First of all, that ratio used to be 10:1, 7:1, 5:1, 3:1. Now it's only 2:1? Soon it will be 1:1. Mirrorless sales already make up 40% of ILC sales. Secondly, I don't know where you get this nonsense about "most mirrorless manufacturers have been losing money." Sony and Fuji have been doing great. For example:

Fuji make a fortune out of Instax so it's hard to tell how they do on ILCs, but volumes are low. Sony are now making money but that's a fairly recent thing and they again don't split ILCs out. Olympus lost a bundle. Most others it's hard to tell.

@Dr_Jon - Mirrorless is a growing market. DSLR is a declining market. That's the reality. Therefore mirrorless is a much smarter place to be in the long run. It's like Kodak and Fujifilm during the transitional phase between film and digital photography. Kodak bet on film because they had been making a lot of money on film, even though it was a declining market. Fujifilm bet on digital because they knew it was a rising market. In the end, Fujifilm made the right choice. Fujifilm is thriving (they have excellent APS-C and medium format mirrorless systems), while Kodak is dead. It was the difference between sticking to a declining market versus jumping to a rising market. The same applies to DSLR vs mirrorless. Yes, DSLR had its heyday, just like film did. But those days are over. DSLR is in decline while mirrorless is on the rise.

Some people just have trouble seeing where things are headed. They take comfort in the past. I think you would have fit right in with Kodak's management!

You're missing the point, the sole DSLR-only manufacturer is Pentax. Mirrorless sales have grown a small amount since 2012 (when they were 3.6M, last year they were 4.0M). DSLR sales have slowed but are still very profitable for the two main players. They'll happily play in both sand-pits without worrying. One sandpit is uncrowded and profitable, the other is very crowded and there's not a lot of money to go around.DSLRs may disappear over time, but probably slowly. It partly depends on whether C+N decide to innovate there or just to enjoy the lower manufacturing costs of mirrorless.

@Dr_Jon - I think we are going to see DSLR sales rapidly decline from here on out, now that Canon and Nikon are fully in the game. Their entry into the market with the EOS R and Z are shining a massive spotlight on mirrorless, lending not only attention but credibility. And it will drive many consumers to wonder: "if mirrorless is where all the big brands are headed, maybe I shouldn't be investing in DSLR anymore." All of this will contribute to an accelerated decline in DSLR sales.

"It partly depends on whether C+N decide to innovate there or just to enjoy the lower manufacturing costs of mirrorless."

You're overly optimistic if you think they will put much more investment or innovation into DSLR development. CaNikon will be pouring their R&D dollars into mirrorless. There are only so many resources to go around. Those resources will be dedicated to mirrorless. We'll probably see some minor tweaks to existing DSLR designs, but not much more.

@Dr_Jon - "DSLR sales have slowed but are still very profitable for the two main players."

Are they still "very profitable?" I think mid-range and upper-level DSLR sales have fallen off a cliff. The only DSLRs that still sell well are cheap, low-end, discounted, low-margin DSLRs such as the Rebel T6. If you look at Amazon's Best Sellers in Digital Cameras list, these low-end Rebels are the only DSLRs Canon has on the list. Same goes for Nikon with similarly low-priced DSLRs.

This list used to be full of mid-range DSLRs, such as the Canon XXD series (10D-80D) and 7D series, which used to be top sellers. The same goes for equivalent models from Nikon. Now those cameras are now totally absent from the list. The only higher priced ILC on the list is the $2000 A7III (currently at #40). So CaNikon's more profitable models are no longer selling well at all.

^^ And I am sure you must have some inside info about them leaving the camera market :P

They have a weird way of showing that they are leaving it though considering they are launching hugely popular products like the A7 III along with lots of lens launches like the new 24mm f1.4 GM which has come into high praise.

The only real manufacturer who seems to be exiting the camera market must be Pentax. Aside from a few die hard fans hardly anyone talks about them anymore. And since they seem to have no plans to move into the mirrorless space I don't see much future for Pentax.

Google’s appalling lack of QC on their products should have removed Pixel 3 from any list. Built by the lowest bidder it seems yet they want champagne prices. And it’s still has got the best camera output depsite it’s software voodoo.

I wish Sigma would release its existing mirrorless lenses line with Canon M mount. They could sell quite a few, because Canon is certainly not doing much in this area. The Canon M50 is a fine camera for the price, but there are hardly any native lenses.

@cheenachatze - Canon EF-M mount isn't an open standard like Sony E-mount and m4/3 are. That's why Sigma only offers their mirrorless lenses in E-mount and m4/3. But it's not just Sigma that aren't making EF-M lenses (at least with electronic interfacing). All the 3rd party manufacturers are doing the same (avoiding EF-M). The only electronically interfaced 3rd party lens to ever be produced for EF-M was the Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III VC introduced back in 2014. So it seems that either Canon is doing something that is preventing 3rd parties from offering interfaced EF-M lenses, or 3rd parties just aren't interested in reverse engineering the EF-M protocol. It could be a little of both.

EF-M is electrically the same as EF. Adapters are just mechanical devices with electrical pass through. If Sigma wanted, since they already make EF lenses, they could release them with no problems. Most likely they calculated it's (currently?) not worth it.

I mean, you have excellent and compact 22/2 and 32/1.4 for M, adapted fully functional 50/1.8 STM is ok and cheap as chips, so it's 85/1.8. The only thing Sigma could realistically sell is 16/1.4 but that's quite large and heavy and I'm not sure how many would really sell. Sigma fast EF zooms have issues on adapter so that would not be trivial for them.

@otto k - "If Sigma wanted, since they already make EF lenses, they could release them with no problems."

I wouldn't be so certain about that. It's not just Sigma that are not making EF-M lenses.

As for the argument "The only thing Sigma could realistically sell is...", that's also a rather weak argument. 3rd party manufacturers have always had lenses that either duplicate or come near to what the OEM already offers.

I am an EOS M owner. I bought the original M. One of the reasons I left the system was the lack of 3rd party support. At the time, Sigma had the 19/2.8, 30/2.8, 60/2.8-- all really nice APS-C mirrorless lenses, none of which were available in EF-M mount. Since then, Sigma have added the 16/1.4, 30/1.4, 56/1.4. Again, none available in EF-M. I'm sure plenty of EOS M users would love to have a crack at these lenses. But they can't.

The thing is, they could very well be taking mirrorless seriously. But they have fallen behind on technology, so they are doing the best they can, but it's still not enough to keep up with the leader. It happens. Just because a company might be great at one thing or one market (ie, DSLR) doesn't mean they will be great at another thing or another market (ie, mirrorless).

Maybe the future is mirrorless, but it certainly is not in my future!Every time I am looking thru the view finder of a mirrorless camera I feel like I am watching a really old and really low quality tiny television set.WYSIWYG? well I hope what I am getting is a little bit better than what I see thru that sad excuse of a view finder!

@WHITELENS - Your comment reminds me of what film shooters used to say about digital photography. "I'm never going to switch to digital because I hate how digital photos look! They are just a bunch of ugly pixels! Film forever!"

@WHITELENS the EVF will only get better, as in the battery for the mirrorless. Sony has been releasing new products that address many previous shortcomings. Look at that A9, A7R3, and A73. Nikon Z6 and Z7 also great release. The size, and build quality are incredible. I have no doubt that mirrorless is the future.

get off nowhitelens's lawn. He is referring to his future, not telling other what to do, comprehension please. Free country.

DSLR is very capable of taking photos as of milc. Milc can do video better, but canon actually have on sensor AF on dslr. Now if nikon did that I wouldn't have to get a milc, best of both world. Body size don't effect "me". Got to say the nikon z6 EVF is like looking thru a ovf. Just did my first fashion shoot at night and didn't really missed the OVF. I think you would be surprised evf is improving, and I like ovf. Half of the shoot I just used the rear lcd screen, at the cost of battery.

@NOWHITELENSLooking through an OVF down to relatively good light is a joy, compared to even the best EVF. No one I think can disagree with that.From a utilitarian point of view, current EVFs are far more effective and informative than OVFs. Yes it might take a bit to get used to at the beginning, but worthwhile for sure.

@armandino - "Looking through an OVF down to relatively good light is a joy, compared to even the best EVF."

I don't know if people remember this, but in the early days of DSLRs when all we had were APS-C DSLRs, people coming from FF viewfinders in their 35mm film SLRs *hated* APS-C viewfinders in DSLRs because APS-C format is so much smaller than FF, which effects optical viewfinder size. So the move from 35mm viewfinders to APS-C viewfinders was too jarring for many people. People complained that looking into an APS-C viewfinder was like looking into a tunnel, and that APS-C viewfinders were dimmer. But of course, people just got used to it. Now apparently OVF fans think they are great! The great thing about EVF is that viewfinder size and brightness is no longer dependent on sensor format size. APS-C, and even m4/3, cameras can now have viewfinders as big and bright as FF cameras.

"Looking through an OVF down to relatively good light is a joy, compared to even the best EVF. No one I think can disagree with that."

I can - for some aspects:- handling several hundret focus-points in an OVF is a mess of dots- shooting high frame-rates with the mirror-blackout is no fun compared to the blackout-free EVFs

And of course if the lighting is not perfect the EVF become much stronger. E.g. being able to still compose a flash-light setup directly, since you see the scene in the EVF.Or switching EVF to black and white, when you want to shoot black and white.

To all Mirrorless fans:I really grant you the wisdom to tell me what YOUR future is, but please do not tell me what MY future is!I am fully aware of all the advantages of mirrorless, but I do not shoot videos or need 20 FPS, I do not even need 8 FPS.Eye AF is fantastic but I do not shoot weddings (did it twice and hated every second of it).Now if they ever design eye AF the works on animals I might change my mind an consider mirrorless, but only if that feature is not available on DSLR.

@ThorstenMUCCurrently only the A9, which btw I own, offers true blackout free shooting experience. So I know where you are coming from. Generally, looking through a large and bright OVF is a rewarding experience. EVF is a pragmatic experience. Yes, blackout free is super but it does not necessarily make up for the experience when comparing, for instance, with the 1DX which offers an extremely short blackout time.

Yeh, I get the OVF thing particularly for pros and many years of DSLR's. Tough to break away and who can blame them. EVF's for me, though, with the wysiwyg on exposure, is great and the screens will just get better and better as competition drives that demand.

While I own a mirrorless cam, I still think the D850 for instance has the potential to be around as a working camera for many years to come. In fact, I've considered getting one just to have it in the arsenal before it's no longer available (going to be awhile, I know). I really want one for the feel and the OVF.

In the biggest year for camera releases that I can remember, ever, I’m not sure how the categories were divided so that the same cameras were competing against each other. Over and over. Or how a video software editing suite can be up against a set of 3 professional cinema lenses, a portable video monitor/recorder and an electronic camera gimbal—all under the category of “Video Accessory”?

Only the gimbal and the monitor/recorder fit under that general “accessory” heading, and even then they’re such different types of tools that the award fails to make a meaningful distinction between anything anyway.

Also, a backpack vs. an external camera flash, a portable hard drive and some lightweight photo editing software? Why not throw in a 6 month-old Labradoodle too? They’re arguably a better photo companion than the 5,000th overpriced “specialist” photo backpack we’ve been introduced to this year.

granted the categories are a little opaque but that staff must live under an unrelenting torrent of new products; they chose the ones that stood out logic be damned! It’s kinda admirable in today’s straight laced world.

I personally feel a fondness for Sony cameras, even if I don't shoot one now, because they love to stir the hornet's nest up. Canon are in panic mode, and Nikon had to improve their game massively in 2018 - why in blazes would anyone complain? We're all winners today, birthday cards or not ;)

I don't understand who the two 'giants' are? Are they the full frame mirrorless giants? No? Full frame giants? No? Uhm cheap APS-C giants in a market nobody even bothers making cameras for giants? Yes!

That’s one of the many reasons that camera isn’t taken seriously as a legitimate compact ILC. You flip that screen out—and now your camera is twice as wide, you look like a tourist and there’s no way to quickly adjust transition from tilt to a normal camera. You playing origami with your flippy screen.

The only reason to mangle a rear lcd like that is for “selfies” or “vlogging,” both activities that are much, much better served by a GoPro and/or a cell phone. Large sensor cameras are both overkill and the wrong tool for those “jobs.”

Tyler: Spoken like a true ignoramus :/Vlogging, love it or hate it, is a popular activity that demands ever-increasing levels of performance. Doing the "tiny head dancing in a fishbowl" act, or going for the "look ma, distorted face!" appearance just doesn't cut it anymore.I don't like a lot of Canon products, and the business decisions that lead to said products, but the M50 is a brilliant camera that deserves all the love it's getting. It's cheap, powerful, and versatile - as un-Canon-like as these things get, actually :D

FYI, into Germany, the A7 III costs currently around 2290 EUR, which means into USD, it's about 2.596 $, which is a lot of money, for a "entry level" A7.

A entry level A7 is now being the A7 since the past 2 years, or simply the A7 Mark II predecessor - which can being bought for around ~1080 to 1100 EUR, which means ~1350 $. The A7 Mark III costs more than 1k EUR more, into germany - which simply means here, more than 1133 USD than the A7 II, which is a lot of money - for that price, way less than this (1k EUR) i've seen the Nikon D750 Body together with the Nikkor 24-120 F4 Zoom into excellent condition, mint like.

The 4 year old D750 doesn't have IBIS, or is being mirrorless, but it's DR is still better, than the A7 II Sensor - which is the same 24 MP Sensor, like into my A7 original...and i've seen the A7 Body being used meanwhile for as low, as 400 EUR here into germany.

I went with the A6300 over the D750, as it was just a faster camera with better AF and features. Sure, there was a hit in IQ, but there were so many more keepers, nearly every single shot, that the difference was negligible in the end (noisy pics > blurry pics). I'm sure the A7 III is vastly superior to the A6300. Even DPR basically said the A7 III was the new D750 of cameras.

You don't got my message, because you haven 't read it properly. I've compared the A7 II price here new, with the D750 & 24-120 F4 Zoom being used, mint-like, cost the same. And here, the D750 wins over the A7 II. No mention about the A7 III - that one is, as i wrote before, very costly into germany. Around 2300 EUR are roughly 4498 DM, which means, it's not cheap by any means. ;-)

Ah. Still wouldn't pick the D750, as I've owned it before and was very underwhelmed after hearing all the hype around it. The sensor's nice, but a camera (especially a DSLR) is more than just a sensor.

The A6300 basically smokes the A7 II, anyway. Closer to the A7 III than the A7 II. The A7 II was too limited by its 2012 sensor.

I do see, it doesn't make sense to argue with you. 1st, the A6300 is only APS-C, i'd never exchange FF for APS-C. Further, FYI, that Sensor is 2013 Tech, and the OLPF have had being slightly redesigned into the A7 II, it's by no means 2012 tech, but 2014.

And nothing "smokes" that way i can't say how much i personally dislike these kind of typical comments here on DPR.

The A6300 is some kinda brick-like camera, with a bad placed EVF, and further no IBIS - plus the Cropfactor, so it's nothing for using full frame, manual focus SLR lenses without cropfactor. A7 II is for my needs the much better camera, than say a A6300, i can't stand it's boxy design and misplaced EVF. Horses for courses.

OLPF only affects sharpness, and in the A7 II's case, sensor reflections. The underlying sensor acts the same in quality. In other words, poorly.

"And nothing "smokes" that way i can't say how much i personally dislike these kind of typical comments here on DPR."

Nobody has ever praised the A7 II for its performance or features or quality, beyond being one of the few FF mirrorless cameras. It's missing fast AF, good adapted AF, FF IQ for its age, high quality video, etc. The only things it rises above the A6300 for are IBIS, extra dials and buttons, bigger grip, and a larger projection of the EVF (same resolution). Everything else is below the A6300. Considering the launch prices, performing better for half the price certainly qualifies as "smoking".

"The A6300 is some kinda brick-like camera, with a bad placed EVF, and further no IBIS - "

Some people (like me) prefer the rangefinder style. Keeps the camera out of your face, so you can use your other eye to scan everything, and eliminates nose prints on the LCD, and false activations of the touchscreen (like on my GX85). Otherwise, the A7 series shares mostly the same exact layout. The bodies and 90% of the controls are in the EXACT same position. Only the viewfinder location is different. If you need IBIS, there's the A6500, which gains front/top buttons in the same position as the A7 series.

"so it's nothing for using full frame, manual focus SLR lenses without cropfactor"

Speed booster. I recently bought the Vello Accelerator for EF lenses, and while AF is iffy on a lot of lenses, MF is always MF. Works well on my 35/2, 50/1.8, and 100/2 (actually decent AF) EF primes.

Shooting people is around 50% of my paycheck, so I definitely need AF that works right the first time. The other 50% is editing others' pictures, and I see exactly why I switched away from DSLR in those pictures. So many "almost there" shots, even on stationary objects. And when things move, things get even more iffy. Glad I'm past that phase.

OMG, it's been after 2 am at night, and here goes above one of these "infamous" solos from you. FYI, mind you - i don't care about testshots, neither tech that much, even i do read since 1999 here - onto a daily basis, it's all about the picture - into the end, gear is being replaced, and replace-able - it's about the Picture, and Print only, into the End. About that special, fleeting Moment, being captured.

And i don't care about Sony APS-C, the only APS-C System, i am being still interested into - is Fujifilms X-Mount. ;)

Have fun with your A6300, but please don't bother me with that brick anymore. I have needs for Sony Fullframe, because of my manual focus lenses via adapter. Enough said. ;-)

PS: You don't know much about Nikon - than you wouldn't ever quote my sentence like this - "So can any recent Sony. Also with AF. ;)".

FYI - Nikons AF-D Lenses are all with AF, that's what the AF stands for, the D for distance information, via CPU inside the Lens. ;-)

"OMG, it's been after 2 am at night, and here goes above one of these "infamous" solos from you"

Only 8:45 here. Thanks for making this a duet. ;)

"it's about the Picture, and Print only, into the End. About that special, fleeting Moment, being captured."

Correct. And the evolution of cameras makes that moment easier and easier to catch. Otherwise we'd all still be shooting big wooden boxes that require full time tripods and a chair for your subjects.

"Have fun with your A6300, "

I do. It's the best camera I've purchased yet. So good that it makes it hard to find a decent daily camera to keep the shutter actuations down. I'm probably going to have to pick up an RX10 IV to get a similar level of reliable performance.

Funny, I use plenty of full frame and manual lenses on my A6300. Looks like they're compatible, too. ;)

"PS: You don't know much about Nikon - than you wouldn't ever quote my sentence like this - "So can any recent Sony. Also with AF. ;)"."

Actually, I've owned 5 Nikons: D90, D7000, D7100, D750, J5, with pre-AI, AI, AF-D, and AF-S lenses. I'll admit the D750 had the least limitations, but they were still too invasive to give me full confidence in my gear. With the A6300, I shoot, and if the camera says it's in focus, it's in focus, And no more guessing about how the camera will expose. I don't have to chimp at all anymore except for initial flash exposure. Extremely liberating, and allows me to capture more "special, fleeting moments" than ever.

That's actually better than just "Camera of the Year", since it's all-inclusive, beyond just cameras. There were lenses, flashes, bags and other things also included in the categories, and the A7 III was the best of anything available in any category. Pretty amazing!

@softmirrorthe Mark III costs 1300 EUR more than the Mark II, if that's "only a few hundred" for you, fine. You won't see it into the pictures - especially at the usual, small print sizes. Don't believe it? Read this link here.

You won't convince me with your A6300. And what gives, using old mf lenses w/cropfactor on APS-C? For that reason, i do have still my NEX6, and using it sometimes with diverse LensTurbo Mk. II. No IBIS in 2018 is a no-go, the best camera from Sony for my needs would be the A7S II, or the upcoming A7S III in 2019. ;)

Good Light.

PS: You don't get it, one thing - 1) everybody is different 2) everybody does have different needs 3) what works for someone, doesn't work for the others.

A X-T2/T3 or used Leica M Series Rangefinder would being the best for my needs....more than any other gear....well, someday. ;)

marc petzold Isn't this about the cameras released in 2018? D750 was released a couple of years ago. Sensor-wise, it's no better than A7 iii even in DR and it lacks so many innovations implemented in the A7 iii. Sorry to hear cameras are more expensive in Germany than US but, that must be the case for any camera, right?

The comparsion was A7 II vs D750 - and here, the D750 wins, it could being bought with it's 24-120 F4 "Kitlens" for less, than the A7 II new. That was my Point - only that, nothing more or less. :-)

Yes, Gear is expensive into Germany. The funny thing though is still, people still do think into 2018 into general - they'd make better pictures with just the next iteration of their current camera....which is not being the case, because of the gear.

As for BBT - an OLPF is way more, what you name it, than just being there for "sharpness". It does filtering of IR & UV Light, also.

@ marc petzoldFYI, into Germany, the A7 III costs currently around 2290 EUR, which means into USD, it's about 2.596 $, which is a lot of money, for a "entry level" A7...A entry level A7 [ii] is 1350 $ "

When I bought my first A7II in 2014 it was around $1700 US. Current 2018 A7III price is approx. $2000. Not a bad increase for a more capable camera especially considering inflation.

@marc petzold "Patrick, when i bought my 1st A7, it was 1400 EUR, without a Lens.The latest A7 III is about 2250 to 2290 EUR, currently."

I think you're saying that the price point is considerably higher now for the A7iii than the A7ii was in 2014. Correct? You may be right, but there are a lot of other factors that could have changed in the last 4 years...a more expensive product, different currency exchange rates, etc. It seems like all camera gear on the higher end has gotten very expensive, especially lenses.

In the best stills/video category we give a bit more weight to the video performance. The a7 III is good enough to make the shortlist for its video but it's its all-round capability that wins it the overall title.

When Canon M50 came out I was probably the only one to comment here that the M50 was the only APS-C in the market with a fully articulating viewfinder and congratulated Canon for it. It still is. I'm happy to see Dpreview giving it an award. I hope this will take Canon out its conservative stance. With all these new cameras coming out I now realise my Pentax K3 is being left behind and I must move on. My next buy will definitely be a Sony A7000 or Sony RX 10 v provided it has an articulating viewfinder otherwise I will still wait for a camera in this category with it. Sony said its listening to its fans. Lets see what's in store for me in 2019.

What if Sony fans don't want an articulating screen? Sony is very big in semi-pro/pro video, where large LCDs with additional video features are added, instead of just using a small flippy screen. Remember that the A5xxx series (and NEX-5 series before it) has always had 180 flip screens, but we haven't seen another one in ages since the A5100. Either people moved to RX100s to get their flip screen fix, or there just isn't a market for a Sony camera with a flip screen.

Sony is not going to release a camera with a side-swivel screen. They have been putting articulating screens on their cameras since 2008. They have released every combination and the best for stills is a screen tilting on the lens axis.

A side articulating screen may be popular with vloggers, but it is sub optimal for stills. Sony may introduce an A77/A99 style articulating screen on their milcs at some point but they are not going to bring out a camera with a side flip out screen.

I'm also dubious of the sudden rush of people for whom this is a life and death feature. Nikon has had fixed screens on its cameras until very recently and Canon still doesn't offer a non-fixed rear screen on any of it's pro or semi-pro cameras.

RubberDials, Why do you think its a new rush?.Every digital camera i have owned has had some form of tilt/articulating screen. Thats 19 years of owning an articulating screen, Its so restrictive to not have one. The A99ii/A77ii tilt and swivel is perfect for me. I even have a 18 year old Nikon with a tilt screen.

I find its ridiculous to put a camera on a tripod and then having to bend over just to see the screen. Im 6 ft tall and most tripods just aren't that big.

Many dramatic/unique perspectives are not at eye level. I've never had to lay on the ground to get any shot.

The real reason for Canon/Nikon not offering a Swivel/tilt may be that autofocus using their suboptimal version of liveview has been problematic.

152 comments? I was expecting 1000+ by now, is there some new virus affecting dpreview posters?I'm okay with the results, although the overlap of categories seems to have allowed some things to have won an award by the simple technique of coming up with ever more categories until it does, which seems a bit bold. Also how the insane Canon 50/1.2 didn't get something is quite surprising, but hey it's your choice...

The EOS R seems pretty underwhelming to me too, particularly the damning handling critiques I see not just from DPR but others. However it seems like a perfectly adequate, if unexciting camera. Which sums up Canon for the last, what, 10 years? And yet their market share continues to grow!

Time to call the 'wide mount advantage' a pure BS marketing campaign created by Canikon (well, more Nikon, to be fair). But don't tell it in the Canon R forum, that would create a storm of people falling off their armchairs :-)

Sony known for its good video capabilities losing to Fuji and Nikon in video category, both manufacturers known to have bad video capabilities previously. Shame on you Sony.And finally some good competition, hopefully we'll get better cameras all round.

You mean like by adding their professional S-Logs and Picture Profiles to their low end models, the RX series, as early as possible? How about 4K? Or 1000fps slow motion? Yeah, definitely protecting something.... ;)

@nandbytes Could you point that to me? Didn’t the comparison video between z6/eosr and a7iii states that IQ and AF both goes to the a7iii? Anyway, both z6 and a7iii are terrific cameras... just saying that 10 bit out is the reason z6 won I think. And that’ll help about 0,01% of the people that buy the z6/7. Better IQ, practically flawless AF and huge lens selection on the other hand.....

Can’t blame dpreview on that one tho because if you give all the awards to the Sony, canikon fanboys would cry all over the commentshaha.

You seriously think Sony won't come out with something better? Remember, they made the Fuji and Nikon sensors, and Sony doesn't give out their best sensors for at least a few years, if ever. Wait for the A7S III and A6700/A7000 if you want real world results from a company that specializes in professional video. ;)

By requiring 15 photos the Pixel 3 is certainly limited in what conditions this feature can be used. If this tech was applied to 1" sensors could they compete with FF? If applied to FF would good quality 100,000 + ISO photos be possible?

Readout speed is the issue. That's why tiny smartphone sensors can do it, while anything bigger slows down. 1" is certainly getting close, though. Currently at 24fps RAW. FF is most likely around a decade off. At least anything affordable.

About ISO, no, there will still be a limit to how high ISO can go and still be usable. If you use Kandao Raw+, you'll see that once the input images start getting too mushy, all you get is clean, smooth mush in return. Detail can't be extracted if it's not there in the first place. ISO limits will generally stay the same with stacked images, as all it does is reduce the textured part of the noise. Whatever is left beneath can't be improved, in the same way that DR increases by stacking images, but only to the point that blacks turn gray. Just a limitation of the sensor.

About the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD the article says: “The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD has the distinction of being the first third-party lens designed from scratch to be compatible with Sony's full-frame mirrorless cameras.” Maybe there is a little typo here? IMHO “the first third-party *zoom* lens designed from scratch” would be more appropriate. I always thought that e.g. the Carl Zeiss Loxia 21mm F2.8 features a new optical design especially created for the (F)E mount, and the same applies to more Zeiss lenses (Batis 18, Loxia 24, Loxia 85 …) and also to Voigtlander 65 mm 2.0 Macro APO-Lanthar, Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D FE … etc.

Wouldn't a lot people on these forums just vote for their camera manufacturer's products? After all, if they have invested in a certain manufacturer's products or even in a sensor size, surely it must be the only sensible choice.

I even read a post encouraging people to click on cameras from a certain mirrorless manufacturer to keep that camera in DPRs list of most popular cameras.

Hate to be banging on this but it is telling why Panasonic decided to jump out of the mFT wagon: none of the products won any category and few were even nominated.

I am surprised the GFX50 did not win the best camera. I mean, it is a real revolution to have such a small camera with this size of sensor but the Z7 also deserves it really well. Want to see the second version of those bodies.

Nikon D3500 in Entry-Level ILC. But yes I think that is the only one. However, there were only two DSLRs released this year, and one was only a minor upgrade (Pentax K-1 II), so perhaps not surprising.

Smartphones are certainly getting much better and much better at photography. The nightmode is like hand held twilight of Sony cameras but with greater dof and arguably less potential to print large or view large on large monitors..which no one I know does anymore, it's phones (97%) and then tablets.

"But can't you see this beautiful bokeh transition zone right here?? Look at this shot at 100% on my computer monitor??" I may as well speak to a snowman.

--Must create large prints in order to block out the giant letters on the wall---

Well, a human life is only so long and I'll be able to enjoy cameras and the (increasingly so) subtleties of their IQ over smartphones for as long as I wish.

Yes, Abrasive, I agree. I own the Sony RX100 VI and the Sony A7 III and have printed out both awards to show my friends.. They are always duly impressed and want to hang with me even more. It's expensive keeping up but it's worth it to keep my friends...

I absolutely agree. This years awards do not help much regarding making a camera purchasing decision, especially on the high end. Between the Nikon Z7 and Sony a7rm3 I think the Sony will win most of the time. But at the same time, it's nice to highlight the Z7. If I didn't own the Sony, which I love, I'd be shooting with a Nikon.

Truthfully, at this point, I'm more interested in the camera company and it's overall direction. Sony and Nikon top the list for pushing the limit of camera/lens design, while Canon seems like they're sitting on the bench.

I'm surprised the Canon flashgun didn't get the innovation award. We know that every year there'll be better phone cameras. In contrast, the Canon flash's auto-rotating head is something that should have been invented years ago, and now surely every new flashgun will be expected to have this highly useful feature. That's a real *innovation*, not just an incremental improvement like the Pixel phone.

Yeah, innovation is something surprising that most people didn't see coming. This flash certainly stunned many people, a lot didn't even know what to think about it. The control ring on the RF lenses and adapters are another example.

How useful is this innovation, really? Yes, it is cool - and maybe I could see it for wedding photographers moving around all the time. But, the learning curve for bounce flash is pretty flat. I can't see spending a few hundred dollars for automatic movement (TTL is a different question). Actually, TTL provides a counterargument to your conclusion. It's been around for a while, and it can be nice to have. But manual flashes are still pretty popular, because if you know what you're doing, TTL isn't always worth it. I think the rotating flash will be lucky if it maintains a foothold in the marketplace - bouncing correctly does not take a lot of expertise.

Hmm. Motors in the head means more things to break. Don't think I would be getting one of these even if I was in the market for a flash gun. Come to think of it, surprised there is nothing from Godox in here. They have been quietly revolutionizing the amateur strobe market over the last few years - and not just by making everything cheaper.

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